Persephone
by mrs.sethclearwater01
Summary: Persephone (to bring/cause death): the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. The queen of the Underworld, the wife of Hades. Sephy: Born and raised in Long Beach California. The president of the Poetics club, an intern at her father's law firm. Two completely different women, the same dark and sinister name, one underlying similarity.. Paul: some poor guy who really couldn't see it coming.
1. Chapter 1

It was a weird feeling. It was an odd thing to accept. To take in.

_"I'm sorry for your loss. We'll try our best to make things work out." _They said they were sorry. At the time, the words meant nothing. They were sorry. That was helpful. Their apologies would make everything better. They could have stopped this. They wouldn't have to make things work out if they'd done their jobs right.

They weren't sorry.

The apologies never stopped. There were phone calls and emails and text messages. I couldn't remember how my phone ended up in the fire place.. They tried to visit me, but the darkened windows must have put them off. I liked the dark. The dark didn't try to apologize for something it didn't do. My friends were sorry, my school was sorry, my neighbours were sorry. They didn't do it.

They couldn't be sorry.

The social worker had a key to our house. She found me in the basement. She asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner, but we stayed in instead. If I went out, they'd all start to say sorry. I didn't want their sorry's. The social worker didn't say sorry, not once. She made tacos, because no one could ever make burritos the way mom could. I wouldn't even let her try. Her name was Mrs. Richards. She told me to call her Stacy, I liked Mrs. Richards better. We ate slowly, she asked a lot of questions. But they were good questions, I liked her questions. Mrs. Richards asked how old I was, what I liked to do, what I liked to read. She liked Sherlock Holmes too. We ate in silence for a while, I knew what she wanted to ask about. What she had to ask about. But she couldn't.

She was sorry.

"You know I can't let you stay here." I nodded and pushed my plate away from myself. I could feel the lump in my throat already. No one had seen me cry since they'd left.

"I don't want to stay here." My voice broke and I quickly cleared my throat, looking down at the table.

"I contacted your grandmother." I glanced up at her, wiping at my probably reddening eyes.

"Which one?" Mrs. Richards smiled and slid a piece of paper across the table.

"She asked me to tell you to call her at this number when you were ready. How about I start on the dishes and you make that phone call. How does that sound, Seph?" I nodded and pushed away from the table.

The lights in the hall were almost blinding. I hadn't turned them on in weeks, I could now see the bruises on my legs to prove it.

Once I dialled in the number, the phone rang seven times before someone picked up.

"Shut up Randy, I'm on the phone! Hello?" I smiled, the lump rising again.

"Hi Nana."

"Sephy! Sweetie, how are you? You're late, I was expecting your call hours ago. Now Randy is awake." I could hear him yelling in the background, demanding to know who was on the phone. "Shut up Randy!"

"I'm…fine." There was silence on the other end for a couple of minutes.

"A nice lady name Stacy called me the other day. She said you needed someplace to stay." I nodded before realising she couldn't see me.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. Nana?" I glanced behind me quickly, making sure Mrs. Richards was still in the kitchen.

"Yes, hun?"

"I'm scared." My voice broke again, and I could feel myself breaking down.

"I would be too, but don't worry. You'll be with us soon enough. You'll be fine. Be strong, okay hun? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Nana."

"Seph?" Mrs. Richards was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea towel. "Would you like help packing your things?" I raised my chin, and shook my head.

"I should be fine, thank you." Mrs. Richards smiled.

"I'll be on my way then. I'll be back at seven tomorrow morning to pick you up." I nodded slowly, and tried to not to think about how she would get me to the airport.

"Goodbye Mrs. Richards." I followed her to the door.

"Seven tomorrow, don't forget." I nodded.

"I'll be waiting."

I wasn't waiting, I was cowering under the stairs. I'd packed, I'd told myself I wanted to leave. And I did, I really did. But I couldn't. I just couldn't.

It took Mrs. Richards half an hour to find me. She wasn't angry when she did, just a bit surprised that I'd managed to fit in such a small space. But not angry.

I took my time locking the front door. Mrs. Richards took my bag and I stared at the door for another five minutes.

"Seph?" I turned slowly to look at Mrs. Richards. She had already opened the passenger side door to her car.

I shook my head, my teeth clenching.

"I can't get in there." I shook my head again as she took a few steps towards me. "You know I can't."

Mrs. Richards sighed. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. You know I wouldn't." I nodded slowly. "I'll be right back." She walked down the block and around the corner. I sat on the front steps and waited for her to come back.

I stared at the still open passenger side door. Dad had opened the passenger door for Mom. I had giggled from the window as she pretended to be flattered. As if he didn't do that every day. They were so disgustingly adorable…

I was distracted by what sounded like bells coming down the street. But that didn't make sense. Why would anyone ring bells while they were going down the street?

Then the most amazing thing happened.

"Seph, meet George and his Arab horse, Bob." I grinned up at George as Bob blew hot air in my face.

"No freaking way." George and Mrs. Richards laughed as I ran a hand through Bob's mane.

"I heard you needed a ride to the airport and Bob and I just love helping out." I almost cried when Bob nuzzled his nose down into my neck.

"Seriously?" I looked to Mrs. Richards and she smiled, already putting my bag into the carriage.

"Again, I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, but…" She gestured towards the open carriage. "It's your choice Seph."

To me, the choice was obvious.

"Steph?" I held the piece of cardboard up for Donna to inspect. She rolled her eyes at me before glancing down at pile of failed signs.

"No, you big idiot." She sighed. "All you boys are just big for nothing. I wonder how tiny your brains are." Randy chuckled from somewhere in the house. My eyes narrowed at the tiny old woman before me. But I wasn't shaking. No one could get mad at Donna, not even Paul.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I waved the sign in her face.

"It's close enough. Now get going! If you're late to pick up my granddaughter, I swear…" I didn't need any more incentive than that. I was out the door and in Donna's…car in seconds. It was raining, naturally, so it took me about half an hour to pull up in the Port Angeles air port.

I felt like an idiot standing the rain with the sign. Her name was probably all smudged.

I had never checked my watch so many times in my life. It seemed like hours before she stumbled out of the sliding doors.

She couldn't be older than fifteen, her hair was dark and long and tangled in the most hilarious way. She was hunched over, but it didn't seem like it was because of the rain… She dragged her feet when she walked, she constantly bit her lip, like she was worried about something.

She would have looked just like the rest of us, if not for the gold flecks in her eyes, just like Donna's. She pulled her hood over her head before walking towards me. She had also picked up Donna's habit of eye rolling apparently.

"Is that supposed to say Seph?" I turned the sign around to look at the running marker. Darn.

"It was... Welcome to La Push Steph!" She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it.

"Thanks." I reached out for her bag, but she pulled it closer to herself, her eyes dropping to stare at the ground. I shrugged, odd.

"Come on Steph. I parked just up the street."

"Parked?" I nodded and started to lead her away.

"Uh, excuse me!" I stopped to let Steph catch up.

"Seth."

"Seth, excuse me, but, you didn't drive here did you?" I nodded again.

"I did indeed drive here Steph." She was still staring at the ground, but her hands were trembling around the straps of her bag. "What's wrong?" She shook her head and glanced up at me fleetingly before looking away again.

"A car?" I chuckled.

"I wish. Donna wouldn't let me. I had to drive her dune buggy. I didn't even know she had one of those!" I frowned. Maybe that's exactly what Steph had been afraid of! "I hope that's okay." But Steph was smiling.

"That is great. Where did you park again Seth?" The drive back to La Push was mostly done in silence. Steph wasn't a talker. Something was telling me that whatever had caused her to come to La Push, wasn't a good thing.

I ran around the dune buggy when I stopped outside of Donna's. The weather was starting to clear up, and I wanted Steph to have a great welcome to La Push. It kind of sucked that she was all wet now…

I opened the door for her, expecting her to thank me for my chivalry. I had always questioned why Donna had had those doors put in.. It was obviously for moments like these.

But Steph didn't move. She stared at me in shock. Her hands were trembling. Did I do something wrong?

"Seth!" I turned to stare at Donna as she ran towards us. I backed away as Donna came closer.

"I don't know what happened Donna. She was perfectly fine, then…" She smiled at me.

"Don't worry about it Seth, thank you for your help." I nodded and started to back away.

"Bye Steph."

PPOV

"Sephy?" I blinked, Seth was gone. Nana was shaking my shoulder. "Seph!"

"Nan?" She stared into my eyes.

"Nothing? How do you feel? Is your heart pounding?" I got out of the dune buggy.

"What?"

"Seth! What do you think of Seth?" I frowned at her, shaking my head.

"He seems nice. Doesn't know my name though… Why?" Nana shook her head, taking my bag from me.

"I was really hoping it would be him. Seth would have made you happy. And he's the least idiotic." She continued shaking her head as she walked to the front door.

"What?" I ran after her, still confused. "Were you trying to set me up?" She smiled at me, putting my soaking bag down by the door, and giving me a hug.

"Of course not sweetie. It doesn't work that way in La Push." She pulled away and my eyes narrowed at her.

"What is happening?" She grinned.

"Look at how much you've grown Sephy! I'm sure the boys back home were all over you." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nana, I lived in Florida. No boys were all over me. None. Ever." She frowned, dragging me into the living room. There was a roaring fire and a snoring Randy waiting for us. I smiled at him.

"He was awake just five minutes ago.. Randy!" He awoke with a start, glaring at Nan.

"Damn it Donna, what did I say about doing that?" Nana pushed me forward and I waved shyly at Randy. Randy was my step grandfather. Nana's first husband had died when I was six, but calling Randy granddad had never felt right. He was okay with just Randy.

"Hi Randy."

"Sephy? Well I'll be damned, how're you doing?" I smiled. I missed my granddad, but Randy was pretty awesome.

"I'm good." He nodded slowly.

"That's good, that's good…" Someone knocked on the door. Randy groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Who the hell is that Donna?"

"I just invited some people over to visit Sephy." My eyes widened.

"What? Nobody knows me here. Nana, what did you do?" But she was already off to open the door. I could hear all the voices long before they entered the living room.

It seemed that Nana had managed to find all of Seth's look alikes in town and invite them all over to meet me. The resemblance between the eight of them was uncanny.

I wasn't usually claustrophobic, but this room was tiny and those guys were huge.

"Nana?" My voice squeaked and they all turned to look at me. They all grinned at almost the exact the same time. All, but one. One who just stared…

"Welcome to La Push Steph!" Oh, wow that was loud. That must have taken a lot of practise to synchronize… They even managed to all mispronounced my name.

"It's Seph," I muttered, backing away from them. I hit Randy's chair and was forced to stop. "My name is Persephone. Seph."

"Oops."

"_Seth!_" They all turned on him, and I almost felt bad. Especially when the throw cushions on the couch were turned into weapons. I almost went to help him. Almost.

"That's a pretty name." They all stopped ambushing Seth. It was that guy, the one who didn't say welcome. That could have been because he missed some practises though… "I mean, for a girl…" I raised an eyebrow at him. Nice save…

"You have got to me kidding me…" I watched as Nan went to go stand in front of awkward guy. That was his name now. Awkward guy. And the name suited him and his shaky hands and fleeting glances. Or maybe fidgety guy would be a better name… "You? Why you?" I frowned. Him? What about him? Maybe Nan didn't like the names I had dubbed him with in my head. "I would have given my permission to anyone but you."

What? Was this one of Nan's set up schemes again?

Awkward guy swallowed, glancing at me then at Nan.

"You know I couldn't help it. Things just don't work right in La Push…"

"Damn right they don't!" Randy rose from his chair and moved to stand in front of. "You stay the hell away from my granddaughter." I stared at Randy in shock. What was going on?

* * *

**So I did this thing where instead of starting on my Bio 11 summer course, I wrote this.. So yay! This may or may not develop into a full story.. Depends on what you guye think. And even then, I'd have to finish it in the next two months, because I cannot be writing a story when I start grade 12.. That'd be way too many commitments.. Anyway, if you like it…**

**Review?(:**


	2. Chapter 2

"You know you've hit rock bottom when chocolate chip pancakes don't make you smile." I glanced up at Nan before looking back down at my full plate.

Nan had her own way of cheering people up when they were upset. She called it the Comfort Food Method. In a span of a week, she turned into the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Except she didn't turn fat children into pies. At least I was fairly sure she didn't..

But she was starting to get frustrated. We were only three days in, and she was already pulling out the "favourites". Foods that she thought were universally accepted as a favourite. I really didn't have the heart to tell her that she was wasting her time.

"Pancakes already?" Randy frowned as he sat across the table from me. "What's buggin' ya Seph?" I kept my eyes low as I answered him. It still bothered me that no one had explained what happened the first day I'd been here. Randy's behaviour that day had been especially…troubling. I had known him since I was nine, and not once had I heard him raise voice. I hadn't even heard _of _him raising his voice. That days behaviour was unusual of him. And of Nan too.

I hadn't seen any of those guys since. It'd been a week. And Randy… Well Randy had gone back to his old self once they had left. No one had said a word about it since.

"Thinking too much." I glanced at him before poking my pancake stack with my fork. It bounced off and I put the fork down on the table. I pushed the plate away, ignoring Nan's astonished look.

"Persephone. You look me in the eye and tell what's the matter. This…" Nan gestured to the array of breakfast foods she had placed in front of me in the last half hour. An array of breakfast foods I hadn't touched.. "This isn't the Sephy I _want _to know." I attempted to shrug it off, pushing away from the table.

"Just…thinking." Nan started to go after me, but Randy grabbed her arm.

"Randy…" Nan's voice was sharp, I was surprised when Randy didn't immediately let go.

"How about you go get some fresh air?" I nodded and left the kitchen before Nan could lose it. Her face was turning red.

"I'll be…somewhere." I called over my shoulder. It was an afterthought, grabbing the keys for the dune buggy. What else could I possibly do in La Push other than drive around?

I sat in the passenger's seat for a good ten minutes, contemplating if a dune buggy was close enough to car... Thinking about what mom was thinking, what dad was thinking… Did they look at each other one last time? Did they hold hands? Did they think of me?

I slid over into the driver's seat, swallowing the lump in my throat. I gripped the wheel, and made sure I could reach all the controls. I stared out into the suddenly misty road ahead of me. When had it started raining?

I had just turned the key when Nan started yelling.

"Sephy!" I didn't turn at the sound of my name. "Persephone!" It was raining harder now. Though, I shouldn't have been surprised. It rarely rained lightly here. "You get out of my vehicle right now!" I turned at that, to smile and wave at her. No freaking way.

I revved the engine a little, before speeding down the now slippery road. An almost hysterical laugh escaped me as the wind beat at my face. My hair was everywhere and I was soaking wet, but I was…I was having fun. In the most twisted way, driving was making me happy.

I took one hand off the wheel, to push my hair out of my eyes. I had to at least pretend I could see. I pushed down harder on the gas pedal, leaning forward and squinting through the gloom.

"Persephone?" My head whipped around on pure instinct. Who could possibly be out here? Who could have possibly known it was me?

I turned back around, expecting to still be on the road. Wishful thinking…

I tried to turn around, I really did, but I'd been going too fast. And there were just too many damn trees in this town.

I couldn't help but think of the irony of my situation. My arms flew up in a feeble attempt to protect my face. I was about to go the same way my parents did. I closed my eyes and waited for the crash, the pain my own screams. But nothing happened. It was just black.

That was quick.

"'Go get some fresh air Seph.' You said!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't think.."

"She could have _died_."

"But she didn't."

"She would have if…" Silence. I didn't like the silence.

"I think I owe you an apology Paul." Paul?

More silence.

"Did she just move?" A new voice. A voice that wasn't familiar. I wanted the old voices.

"Mom?" The word left my lips before I could really think about it. I wasn't even aware I could speak. "Nan?"

"I'm right here sweetheart." Her voice was quieter, more reserved.. What had happened?

"I think you should go, Paul. Before she.." I frowned, more determined to open my eyes now. Why was Paul here? How was I not dead…

"No." I had managed to open my eyes now. Paul had frozen in the doorway. Nan tried to help me sit up, but I waved her off. My head was spinning, and all I really wanted to do was lie back down. But I had to know why he was here.

"Hello. Persephone." I stared at him blankly.

"Paul." He looked away. I did too. Nan and Randy were watching me, with the most worried expressions. A lump rose in my throat. "Nan? I'm really sorry about the buggy…" She shook her head and was at my side in an instant. She squeezed my hand.

"I'm just glad you're okay." I nodded, looking to Randy. He smiled fondly, showing that he agreed with what Nan said.

"Paul."

He had tried to sneak out whilst we had been talking. He turned back around now, his hands in his pockets and his eyes low.

"Yeah?" He didn't look at me.

"Thank you." Nan stiffened at my side, and I knew I had said the right thing. Paul stiffened too, his head slowly raising so he could look at me questioningly.

He cleared his throat, backing up again.

"No problem." Nan squeezed my hand, distracting me long enough for Paul to escape.

"You didn't ask Nan." She frowned. "How I feel? If my heart is pounding?" Nan glanced at Randy before looking back at me.

"Well?" I swallowed, staring at the door.

"I feel... It is. I don't… Nan?" She smiled at me.

"I told you, things didn't work right here."


End file.
